All About Beer Magazine January 2006 Issue

Volume: 26 - Issue: 6

Features

Numbers can be suprising, as in the case of Scotland. Contrary to popular images, the descendants of blue-bottomed Braveheart aren’t any wilder in their drinking habits than their southern neighbors. In fact, in some repsects, the Scottish are considerably more conservative with their beer drinking, as well as their brand preferences.

You may have tried some beers from Scotland over the years—the powerfully malty Dark Island from the Orkney Brewery, or the unique range of beers from Heather Ales. Like most beer lovers, after trying these beers, you’re curious about where the beers come from and why they are what they are. What, after all, makes... View Article

First Gulp Wine 8,500-4,000 B.C., in Egypt Beer 4,300 BC., in Babylonia Home Soil Grapes must be grown in limited number of temperate climates. Numerous grains from many climates can be used in creating beer. Conversion Wine fermentation relies on sugar from grape juice. Brewer uses malt to prepare barleycorn for conversion to sugar. Extras... View Article

For all the similarities that exist in making beer and wine, consumers’ perception of the two beverages couldn’t be further apart. For too many people, beer is the inexpensive, generic, blue-collar drink of the masses that washes down brats and burgers and celebrates mundane victories, like a sub-90 round of golf. On the other hand,... View Article

I’ll never forget it. It was the summer between fourth and fifth grade when I toured my first brewery. My father knew a salesman from the George Wiedemann Brewery in Newport, KY. We met up with him one afternoon and toured the brewery. At the end of the tour, my father sampled a few beers... View Article

Holiday beers. Christmas beers. Winter beers. Whatever name they’re given by their makers, these bigger-than-usual, once-a-year ales and lagers are tasty examples of the brewer’s high art. It’s an age-old tradition for European brewers to make big, bold, special beers at the end of the year, both for the holidays themselves and the cold winter... View Article

I don’t know if the word “fib” exists in American English, but on this side of the Pond it means an unimportant, inconsequential lie. Purists and prelates may argue that a lie is a lie in any language, and that point has been underscored by the creation in Britain of an organization known as “NoFibs.”... View Article

Departments

Born during the Industrial Revolution, out of necessity and fueled by novelty, India pale ale is the subject of a 300-year-old saga that remains an unfinished book. The abridged version of British brewers sending their hoppy, fortified pale ales to troops in India is merely the veneer of this rich legacy.

When we were growing up in New Jersey, our families never thought of vacationing in Philadelphia: on weekends, we went to the Shore. Those were the days before “weekend escapes.” And long before we became beer travelers.

Beer Talk

Marin Brewing Co. Larkspur, CA Available: CA, OR Comment: Marin Brewing Co. is a brewpub that was founded in 1989. Star Brew was first brewed in 1992 to celebrate the leap year. The second batch, brewed in 1996, again to celebrate the leap year, went on to win gold at the World Beer Cup, and... View Article